Rising Sun, Falling Feathers
by FallenNiji
Summary: After a fight gone wrong, Marco finds himself in the hands of a young woman and a talking duck. Yeah. This has got to be one of the strangest things that has happened to him. But, why does his Phoenix want to be near her? Soulmate!AU. Major!AU. 'M' just in case.
1. Marco Snaps! He Wants A Vacation!

**Chapter 01:** _Marco Snaps! He Wants A Vacation!_

* * *

Marco inhaled deeply as the _Moby Dick_ shook for the third time that day. He was in his office doing the paperwork for first division, fourth division, second division and half of Whitebeard's paperwork. The last time he let Thatch do his division's paperwork, they ended up in a marine base, being chased by Garp. How that happened, he honestly didn't want to know. And as for Ace? Apparently, the kid always forgot (like hell he'd believe that) about it or accidentally set fire to it. There's no way in hell he's going to let the kid do the paperwork after that. Doing it himself causes less headaches. And as for his father, that lazy ass shoves all his work on him with a 'gurarara' and tells him it's hazardous to his health.

 _Oh no, I got a paper cut! I'm going to die!_ Marco thought viciously. _Yeah right, stupid lazy ass Oyaji, yoi._ And the nurses did absolutely nothing but giggle. He hates his sisters sometimes.

Then, when the other divisions tried to shove all their work onto him he drew a line and exploded.

Honestly, sometimes he thinks his family only loves him because he's the first mate, does all the paperwork, and is strong. Yeah... Sometimes, he feels that the only person that will ever love him is his soulmate. Who has yet to show herself/himself. How disappointing. He's been around for a _long_ time, yet he hasn't even heard a whisper of of their name.

Another tremor overcame the boat. He sighed. He knew full well why the boat was shaking. It was the cause of his kid siblings Ace, Haruta and Thatch. Yes, Thatch is a kid despite all outward appearances. Have you ever met the guy?

Marco regrets ever letting those terrors meeting, let alone becoming friends. Thatch and Haruta were bad enough on their own, but now with Ace? A _logia_? A _fire_ logia?

Yet again, another tremor shot through the Moby Dick and Marco's eye twitched as he watched his ink bottle tip over and spilled onto his paperwork. Which he had been doing for the past _48_ _hours_. Without breaks.

Now, half his paperwork was covered with ink black...well, ink which he was just finishing. And thus, we have nearly finished, ink covered paperwork, and a sleep deprived, annoyed flaming turkey out for muder.

Another tremor.

 **SNAP**!

The pen in Marco's hands snapped from the force which he held it. A dark aura surrounded the usually composed and indifferent commander. But that snap not only signified the pen snapping, it also signified his patience for this ending. He was out for blood.

Standing up, he made his way to the deck (after making a few pit stops around the boat) where he knew the troublemakers would be for lunch. They were having a party or something because it was someone's birthday or something. They never needed an excuse for a party. So he knew his father and most of the commanders will be there. And he, of couse didn't join the festivities. Because he was busy doing the paperwork. Which the Idiot Trio™ (A/N: Ace, Sabo, Luffy. Zoro, Sanji, Luffy. Thatch, Haruta, Ace. Among others) had ruined not moments before.

Anyone he passed by inched away from him in fear, wide eyed. The tick mark on his forehead was growing bigger by the second, the already dark aura around him was growing darker as well, and his scowl was growing more angry. Oh yes, everyone he met decided to not mess with him and instead go hide in their rooms until this was over.

The door slammed open and everyone looked in the direction of the entrance to below deck. They were met with an angry, slightly flaming, and very much glaring, first division commander. A satchel was slung over her head.

The commander made his way over to Whitebeard. His eye was twitching.

"Oyaji. I'm going on a mission." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

Whitebeard frowned. "Son, I don't think you should go. You don't look all too well."

Marco twitched. "Let me put it this way, yoi. If I don't get the hell out of here in the next half an hour, we will have two brothers and a sister less and three bodies to dispose of." He continued on, as if he hadn't said that he was about to kill (or decapitate) three of his siblings. "It's taking me everything I have not to decapitate those three _idiots_ and unleashing my phoenix on them, yoi."

Whitebeard's frown deepened. It looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't have a chance before someone slung their arm around Marco's shoulder.

"Hey there, bro!" Marco twitched. "You look a bit pissed off. Going to an island to cool down? You going to have some _fun_?" Thatch wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

The next second was a blur. Marco's eyes flashed and the next thing Thatch knows, a foot was lodged into his gut sending him into a wall.

"THATCH!"

"That was strangely refreshing, yoi." Marco muttered under his breath. Most of his siblings were now by the fourth commander's side.

"Marco..." Whitebeard warned.

He just sighed. "I'm going to be on Arc Island, yoi. Apparently, they're having a bandit problem and sent us a request. The island is under our protection, yoi." He clarified. "I'll be back in about a week." Marco smiled viciously. "And I can vent all I want and nobody will care, yoi." Of course, the mission will probably take only about a day or two, but he seriously needs a break. So he just...tweaked the truth a bit. And of course, it'll take six hours to get there, and then take out the bandits after resting for a bit. So after that, he'll have a week to relax and rest.

Whitebeard sighed, seeing no way to convince his sick looking son to stay. If he _does_ get sick, his phoenix will heal him up. "Fine." He agreed. "But send me a report when you've taken care of them."

Marco tired not to feel guilty. He wasn't going to send the report as soon as he was finished. He wanted his long deserved vacation, dammit, yoi! "Sure. I'll try, yoi."

Whitebeard opened his mouth to say something but Marco already transformed and flew off.

"Oyaji..." Ace, his youngest son and second division commander, looked...concerned? Well, that's certainly a new expression. And just months before he was trying to kill him. He's come far. Whitebeard smiled fondly. "Yes, son?"

Ace flinched. Whitebeard's smile dimmed a little. He noticed a while ago that Ace hated to be called 'son'. He found it a little worrying, but he was sure Ace would tell him when he feels comfortable enough.

"Nevermind, I'm sure it's nothing..." Ace cast a look at the small blue dot that was slowly growing smaller by the second. He didn't know why, but something in the pit of his stomach was telling him 'something will go wrong'. But... Marco's a big boy, he can take care of himself. He didn't need Ace worrying about him. Nobody needed Ace. Except from Luffy. But Luffy was Luffy. It was different. And soon enough, the truth will come to light, and the Whitebeard Pirates will hate him. Like everyone – except Sabo and Luffy – does.

* * *

The first thing Marco did after he arrived on Arc Island was go to the inn. He had landed near the village but far enough to not be seen, and after buttoning up his shirt to cover his mark to not cause a ruckus, made his way into the village.

Arc Island is...a special sort of island here in the New World. One side of it is a wasteland, with nothing but a boiling hot desert and poisonous animals. The other side is much warmer, giving off a feeling that the people are on a spring idland. Arc Island mainly gets their income from selling the various rare herbs and vegetations that grow in the spring, and sometimes in the desert, area. A lot of people lived in those places, which helps them get food. The people that live there are experts on how to survive in their respective are.

There are seven villages on the Island, each one known for a strange phenomenon. The village near the sea and harbour, Maldives, is known for its beautiful clear waters. And at night, the water closest to the island turn neon, electric blue. He had only seen it a few times, back when his Oyaji put it under his protection. Only a few prople live here, less than a hundred.

Then there's Lehigh Valley, the nearest one to Maldives. It's near the forest in a small valley. There's a beautiful lake and waterfall there, but Lehigh Valley is known for a strange phenomenon that happens three times a year. Every year, after it rains, instead of one, as much as _eight_ rainbows form over the village. It's supposed to be a beautiful sight, but he had unfortunately never seen it. Much less people live here than at Maldives. About only fifty or so.

Then there's the mountain village, which was abandoned after wild animals attacked and rampaged, nearly killed everyone. It was abandoned over seventy years ago. It's phenomenon seemed rather strange. Once a year, in summer and on a full moon, the mountain it was residing son opened up in some place, allowing people in. Marco didn't know what was hidden in there. The islanders were rather secretive about it.

Then there's the forest village, Rastoke. It was near a beautiful lake called Taikwa. It was a relatively small village, but beautiful nonetheless. It didn't have a phenomenon per say, but it had a small water windmill that, according to the locals, can either heat up or cool down the water in the lake. Quite a lot of people live there, definitely more than in Maldives.

The only desert village on this island was called Sunagakure. As its name suggests, the village is in the heart of the desert. It's near a large oasis so its citizens can survive. The houses are made of hard sand, white stone or their houses are just tents. But the most peculiar thing, is that every night the sand in the desert turns pitch black. And when there's a full moon, the white turns as whute as snow. The desert is known as _Onmyō_.

The village in-between the spring and desert areas is called Rose Garden. It's a large village with tons of entertainment, shops, restaurants, and it gives off a sort of Aladdiny feel. [ **1** ] It doesn't really have a phenomenon, it's just a very beautiful, very lively city. It's where most people live.

And finally, there's Fairy Town. It's a large settlement somewhere deep in the forest. According to the locals, it's the oldest city of the island but people abandoned it centuries ago. So not only ruins remain. And the locals also say that those who try and find the ruins suffer from painful deaths either by accidents, or the animals.

But what had to be the most peculiar thing about this island, is that it had a earth railway system connecting each town. Of course, the Fairy Town and the mountain town railways weren't used nowadays.

Marco had landed near Rose Garden. He made his way to the large city with a bored, but agitated look on his face.

Once he reached the city, he raised an eyebrow. It was quite a roudy town, he observed. Children were running around on the street, merchants had small tents set up on the sides, filled with food, drinks, small accessories, clothes – anything you can imagine! The streets were made out of sand with small allies on the sides, leading to the darker parts of the city.

 _Thatch would've certainly loved this town._ Marco sweatdropped as a woman wearing only a bikini top and a long skirt walked by him. Then he shook his head. _Nope. No thinking about those idiots, yoi. I'm on a break, well mission, so no thinking about them. No thinking about the havoc they're causing on the Moby Dick, no thinking about them getting Garp to chase after then, causing trouble on islands..._ He trailed off, a little pale at those thoughts. _Oh dear god, is it good that I'm gone for a week, yoi? They can accidentally cause Oyaji's death for all I know, yoi!_ And yes, his brothers and sisters were capable of that feat. Very, _very_ capable.

He groaned. _Let's just get this over with, yoi._

Marco turned to a young man at a stand. "Excuse me, can you direct me to an inn or a hotel?" His tone was polite and he resisted the urge to add 'yoi'.

The man blinked once before giving the phoenix a crooked grin. "There' only one 'otel in this city, unless yur fine with stayin' in a brothel."

"No thank you. I'll take the hotel." Marco replied dryly. Maybe he can nap for a bit before going out to take care of the bandits. God knows he needs it. He hasn't slept properly for a while now.

The man shrugged. "Sui' yurself. I'm Antonio by tha way." He outstretched his hand over the table. Marco noted that it was full of accessories and clothes.

Marco stared at him with a raised eyebrow. There was no way he was going to give his name to a total stranger and potential enemy, it didn't matter that the kid was living on an island under Oyaji's protection. Besides, the kid wasn't his soulmate anyway. His soulmate was most likely female. The writing was feminine and as was the name, but he's been sailing the New World since he was a teen, so as far as he knew his soulmate could be a man. But his soulmate's name certainly isn't Antonio.

After a few awkward moments Antonio pulled back, his grin now awkward. "Well," He cleared his throat. "I'm assuming you aren't a Luigi?"

Marco sighed.

"I'll take that as a no..." Antonio shifted awkwardly.

"Antonio!" An exasperated female voice came from behind the younger man. A raven haired woman came from behind the fabric. A scowl was on her face. "Asking customers names again?"

Antonio smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Not me you have to apologise to." She gave a pointed look to the annoyed blonde.

"Sorry 'bout tha trouble, sir." Antonio apogised while rubbing the back of his head.

The woman sighed. "Get back to work, dumbass."

Antonio squeaked. "Yeah, miss Vernadez!" He scurried off to the other side of the bopth or whatever this was.

Miss Vernadez rolled her eyes before turning to Marco. "Didn't expect to see you of all people here, commander Marco."

He tensed before relaxing, finally recognising the woman. "Hello, Andrea. I'm glad to see you're feeling better, yoi." Andrea was one of the older residents of Arc Island, in her late thirties. She was here the last time he and his crew visited, but he remembered she had lived in Maldives five years ago. She had been suffering from an illness, but it seems she's all fixed up now.

Andrea smiled. "Thanks, commander, for your concern." He decided to not ask about why she was living here instead of back down below.

"This may seem a little rude, but why're you here? If the Moby Dick was sighted someone would've informed the citizens."

Marco hesitated. If there was anyone who knew about the island, it was Andrea. "No, it's just me. I had to get away from those idiots on-board or I would've decapitated Thatch, Haruta and Ace, yoi."

Andrea tilted her head to the side. "Ace, Ace, now where have I heard that–" She cut herself off with an exclamation. "Oh! Hiken no Ace, right? What's he doing with your crew? Wasn't he a captain of his own crew?" She looked bother proud of herself and confused.

Marco sighed, finding he couldn't lie to the younger woman. "He joined us, yoi. Of course, yoi, after trying to kill Oyaji 100 days straight. He was recently appointed as the second division commander, yoi."

Andrea giggled. "He certainly seems like an interesting guy. Not just anyone has the guts to try an' kill Whitebeard-san for a hundred days."

Marco nodded slightly. "Anyway, yoi. I decided to go on a mission. The bandits..."

Andrea's face darkened. "So I assume you're here to take care of them?"

"Yoi." He nodded.

Her lips twitched upward. "Okay, I'll tell you what I know. But it's gotta be quick 'cause I have a business meeting in a few minutes."

"Okay, yoi. Tell me what you know, yoi."

Andrea's face turned serious. "The bandits go around towns calling themselves the Nano bandits." Marco twitched. _Daring and brave, yoi?_ "So far, they've only hit Rastoke and Lehigh Valley. They haven't the guts to venture into the desert or take on the Maldives residents. And security here is too good. So far, they haven't killed anyone, but the mayors think they will soon. I'm guessing that's why they sent in a request."

"Only Rastoke and Lehigh Valley so far, yoi?" Marco frowned.

Andrea grimaced. "The damages aren't pretty and most of the residents went to the other towns to live with their relatives until the bandits are taken care of. So please, Marco-san. Take care of those bandits as soon as you can." She bowed slightly.

Marco looked away awkwardly. "I was planning on tracking them after I got a room at the hotel..."

Sher looked up. "So you're headin' to Vanessa Hotel? Well, you can't miss it." She pointed to a large building in the distance. "It's that one, it has the hotel's name on the building so it's rather easy to find." He spun around on his heel.

"Thanks, miss Andrea, yoi!" He threw her a lazy wave.

"No problem!" He heard her call out.

* * *

"Why do you mean you have no free rooms!" The receptionist froze under his glare.

"I-I'm sorry sir but the last room was taken minutes before you arrived." She squeaked as Marco's glare darkened considerably. "B-But I can book you a room! There's a couple who'll be ch-checking out in two hours!"

Like hell he's going to wait for two hours only to get a room where a couple stayed an did who knows what!

He sighed deeply. It seems he had no other choice but to leave and take care of the bandits now. Waiting for the room was also a choice, but like he said (thought?) before, he wasn't staying in a room that had been occupied by a couple.

"No thank you." He replied curtly. She flinched.

He turned around and exited the hotel. Looks like he's gonna have to deal with the bandits now. But where would he look for them? They've stuck Lehigh Valley and Rastoke so they're most likely somewhere in the area. But where? This is a large island, so there's no way he could just search blindly for them. Even with his flying it would take a while, not to mention he isn't feeling all that good.

So he has to gather information from somewhere. The smart thing to do would be to hit the shadier parts of town, and if that doesn't work he'll have to head over to Lehigh Valley and Rastoke.

Decided, Marco casually walked into an alley looking bored. He didn't pay the thugs and shady bastards around him any attention. He had a clear destination in mind.

A little later on Marco saw a sign. _Emily's Brothel_ , the sign said. Under it, was a door to a shady looking building decorated in elegant, red swirls. There were other buildings too, but they didn't interest him. Along the street were red lanters. He was in the red light district.

You can get a lot of information in these kinds of places. _'The shady go where the shady is!'_ ...Or so says Thatch. Speaking of, why was he believing anything Thatch says? Oh yeah. It's because Izo (one of his more bearable brothers) was the one who first said that.

So basically, if the bandits were male and they didn't have girlfriends they either rape someone or go to a brothel to release tension. And who knows what type of things they said in there.

There are a bunch of brothels in this city, so he might as well start with this Emily's.

Once he was inside he went to the bar and sat down. "Just some sake." He muttered to the bartender, who proceeded to nod at his request.

"Well, well, well." A sultry voice drawled from his left. "What might a handsome devil such as you be doing here?" Marco turned his head slightly. A young woman with smooth black hair and half lidded blue eyes wearing only a knee length kimono that fell off her shoulders and barely covered her assets was leaning on the bar. She was smiling.

He scoffed. A prostitute, huh? The people who become prostitutes are either Blank[ **2** ], were rejected by their soulmate, were forced into this, were sold or born into this, or they had just given up hope on ever finding their other half.

"That's none of your concern." He replied cooly. Sure, he sometimes played around with people (he was by _no means_ a virgin), but now wasn't exactly the time.

The prostitute 'hmm'-ed thoughtfully. "I'm assuming you're here to ask about the bandits. Right, _kaizoku-san_?" Marco tensed and shot her a look.

The bartender returned and set the sake bottle and cup in front of him. Marco threw him a few beri without even looking at him.

"Oh? And where did you come to this conclusion?"

The prostitute rolled her eyes. " _Puh_ -lease! Why else would a pirate be doing here? Er, let me rephrase that." She continued as Marco started to open his mouth to list the _many_ reasons just _why_ a pirate would be in a _brothel_. "Why else would a pirate of your standing be in this small brothel when it's very well known among the citizens that we have a little bandit problem? And since this island is under your protection..." She trailed off. "Well, I think you get the point." She then added as an afterthought. "My name's Emma."

"...For a prostitute you're quite smart."

"And for a pirate you're quite pineappley." She shot back without any hesitation. Marco twitched. The pineapple comment always got to him. He did not look like a pineapple. He has _blonde_ hair for fucks sake, and, oh, what was it again? Oh yeah! He's a _human_.

"Now, let's get down to business." Emma leaned toward Marco. "I want these bandits outta here as soon as possible. They hurt my lil' sis and they gotta pay for it." He certainly understood that. If anyone hurt his siblings, no matter how annoying they are, he'd be out for blood. So he can sympathise with the prostitute. He paused, he blinked. _Wow, I never thought I'd say that._

"Last night a bandit by the name of Satoshi visited the brothel and, coincidentally, I was picked to...ahem, _entertain_ him." Emma coughed softly. "You would be surprised at what type of things idiots like him say when they're entertained." The quirk of her lips could've been a smirk or a smile, but Marco couldn't te–nevermind, it's definitely a smirk.

"What did you learn?" Marco inquired politely.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman." She muttered under her breath. "Anyway, I managed to get that he and his group would be meeting up in the forest later tonight."

"Do you know where?"

"Yeah," She nodded. "Do you have a map of the island?" She grimaced at his 'are you an idiot?' look. "I'll take that as a no then." She grumbled about something that sounded like 'stupid pineapples'.

Marco twitched. Nope. He was _not_ going to k– _hurt_ his only chance at finding out about the bandits. Not even when she calls him a pineapple. Nope. At least, not right _now_.

"Fine then." Emma sighed, a deep, exasperated sound. "Why do I try anymore, honestly." She mumbled as she stuck a hand into her kimono. Marco clearly avoided looking at her, for politeness if nothing else.

"Aha!" She gave a victorious smile slide onto her face. "There you are!" She pulled out a rumpled map from her chest area.

Marco grimaced.

Emma just huffed and smoothed the paper so at least something was able to be seen. "Oh suck it up, you big baby." She told him. Before Marco had a chance to reply, she pointed to a spot on the map where a large city was drawn with the words 'Rose Garden' under it. There were a bunch of other landmarks on the map but Marco didn't pay them any attention. "So currently, we're here in Rose Garden."

"Oh really? I had no idea." The phoenix zoan deadpanned.

Emma ignored his comment and instead pointed to what looked like a small clearing on a map, north of Rose Garden and near Fairy Town. "The bandits are supposed to meet at this clearing in half an hour, so you better hurry up. It's north of here and about a few kilometers away from the ruins of Fairy Town." She then looked up at him, face serious. "Commander Marco, I know you may be strong, but... There's just something not right with those bandits. It's like they have magic or something." She shuddered, and looked as if she was remembering something horrible. "They're crazy strong..."

Marco cut her off. "Don't worry, I can handle them. They're most likely just some Devil Fruit users trying to get Oyaji's attention to piss him off." At her uncertain smile, he reassured her. It was his job as the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates to make sure anyone and everyone under his Oyaji's protection stays safe. "I'll be fine. I'm not the first division commander for nothing, you know."

Emma smiled weakly. "Take care."

And Marco proceeded to walk out of the brothel after finishing his sake.

Emma's smile fell, a frown replacing it. "I really hope nothing happens..." She whispered to herself.

A sudden voice from next to her, where Marco had sat, startled her into releasing a yelp. "Don't worry, the kid'll be fine. He ain't Whitebeard's first mate from nothing." Lady Emily said with a small smirk – or was it a smile?

Emma relaxed at the sight of her boss.

"Besides, if anything goes wrong the Miko will most likely swoop in to save his ass." It was definitely a smile. Mischievous, smug, but a smile nonetheless.

Emma agreed with her. "Lady Emily, is commander Marco..?"

Lady Emily grinned viciously. "Yup. And now it's time for payback. And I'm going to win the bet." She cackled victoriously.

The younger prostitute sweatdropped at her boss's antics. "There was a betting pool..?"

Lady Emily waved her off, face blank except for a small, smug smirk. "Go entertain some of our guests, Emma. Or I'll sic Playboy-kun on you." Emma grimaced. Yeah, she'd rather take hours of endless work than having to deal with her boss's nephew.

With that, Emma hurriedly went off to a young amn sitting in a booth.

Lady Emily smirk was back full force. Oh the money... _I so knew it! Ha! Ellen lost~_ She thought gleefully. _All that money...mine~_

She paused. _I wonder how the Miko will react?_ She wondered, pursing her lips. _Well, she'll most likely kill me – but the_ money. _And I can't wait to see her face..._ She chuckled.

Lady Emily knew that the girl would be mad at her. But it was so going to be worth it. _Especially_ her reaction.

The occupants of the brothel stared at the laughing head prostitute warily. The last time she laughed like that, half the island ended ended up naked, drunk and with raging headaches. Though...not specifically in that order...

* * *

 **Does anyone know who Marco's soulmate might be? After it's revealed, I'll add it to the character selecty thing.**

 **Oh, and as for why Marco didn't 'yoi' much during the conversation with Emma was because he was series, tired, and he didn't even know the woman.**

 **And I royally screwed around with the plot of Fairy Tail to my liking. I never really got passed the Gajeel and Natsu vs Twin Dragons fight. I kinda got interested after that.**

 **And yeah, I made Marco a little...I don't know? I made him feel a little left out I guess? Oh I don't know. I'm just going with the flow.**

 **Oh, and there might be a few crack pairings in this.** **Fuck that. This whole thing will be crack because I'm a shitty writer and a hormonal (pre-?)teen. Who has depression and I'm pretty sure a minor form of ADHD.**

 **EXPLANATIONS↓**

[1]: **Imagine the Rose Garden from Fairy Tail, where Lucy and Éclair were attacked.**

[2]: **A Blank is a person who wasn't born with a Soulmark and is instead a normal, unmarked human like we are.**

 **Oh, and before I forget, I have a poll on my profile concerning my stories and which ones I should update the most and soonest. Of course, the stories that I did not include on the list will be updated regularly or whenever inspiration strikes.**

 **Love y'all, Rin (woth the help of Rena 'cause it's 11pm and Rin has school tomorrow–scratch that. We both have school tomorrow. _Fuck_.)**

 **Reviews make me happy and make me update faster**!


	2. Lichen And Weeping Willow! Who are

**This chapter will have a small cameo for Marco's soulmate. Who can guess who she is?**

 **And I'm shit at fight scenes. I'm shit at writing. I'm shit at life...**

 **We probably should've added this last chapter, but I forgot. Don't own One Piece or Fairy Tail, only my OCs and Arc Island.**

* * *

 **Chapter 02** : _Lichen And Weeping Willow! Who Are The 'Executives'?_

* * *

Marco had a problem. He didn't know how to get to the clearing the prostitute (Emma?) pointed out. Sure, he could fly there but I think people would notice a flying, flaming chik–fuck. This is Ace's fault. He remembered the first time the younger saw him in his phoenix form. 'Apparently' launching yourself at a bird thinking it was _food_ ( _what the fuck yoi?_ ) was something crazy East Bluers do. Or was it just Ace? He couldn't be too sure. Both Garp and Gol D. Roger were from there, and they were crazy as fuck. And they did have a few East Bluers in their crew, and they weren't exactly 'normal'.

Anyway, back on track, Marco thinks people would notice a blue phoenix flying around. And the bandits would too. Besides, he didn't even know how to get to the clearing. Sure, that prostitute showed him on a map, but how would he know if he arrived at the right clearing? He doesn't know the geography of this island all that well. And he only had twenty five minutes left until the bandits are supposed to meet, at least according to the prostitute Emma.

Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his blond locks of hair. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Passing by a large building with a map in front of it, the first commander frowned.

What was he going to do? It's not like there's a marked path to show the way there–wait. Backpedaling, the phoenix smiled triumphantly. It seems his luck was turning around. There, in front of him was the map of the island. But not just any map, no, it was the map of the whole islands railway system. The railways went everywhere, well, except from the left side of the island which was marked as 'Unexplored'. And much to his surprise, there was a small station near the clearing he was supposed to be in twenty one minutes.

Next to the large map was a railway station. His smile turned malicious. Oh yes, his luck was turning around. As was the bandits.

 _Vacation here I come, yoi._

* * *

A minute later, he was on his way to Sakura Station, because apparently there was a good sakura tree sightseeing area around there somewhere. The ride would take fifteen minutes.

So now Marco found himself in a small compartment with fifteen minutes to spare. And the compartment's seats were _very_ comfy indeed. But he couldn't sleep right now, he had to check the file about the bandits. He was embarrassed to admit he didn't read it thoroughly, just skimmed through it.

Decided, he opened his satchel and took out the file. He started reading.

According to it, the Nano Bandits had appeared a year ago. Back then they hadn't been causing a lot of trouble, just some small thefts. But recently, they attacked Rastoke and Lehigh Valley, injuring more than half its populations and destroying the village nearly entirely. Their main HQ is somewhere in the mountains, so Marco will probably have to beat the information about its whereabouts out of one of the bandits. And apparently, last week they nearly killed the daughter of Rastoke's mayor.

But that was all the information he got about them. How... disappointing.

With a sigh, Marco closed the file just as the compartment opened. Blinking, he looked up. He was surprised he didn't sense the person with his Kenbunshoku Haki. How weird.

A young male's head poked in. "Sorry." The man apologised softly, black eyes apologetic.

Marco blinked warily. "...No problem, yoi."

The man's lips formed a small confused frown and Marco couldn't believe how much the man looked like a lost puppy.

"May I sit here? All the other compartments are full." He said mournfully, like someone had died.

Sweatdropping, Marco told him he could stay.

The man shuffled in and he could fully see him now. He wasn't all that tall, and had short, slightly spiky, black hair and equally dark eyes. His eyes had a sort of...fragile emotion in them that made Marco pity him. It looked like he had seen a lot with those eyes. He was wearing a high-collared, short sleeved black robes with gold trim. A flowing white toga was draped over his shoulder and tied around his torse. A pendant was around his neck.

There was a sad, mature aura around him. He looked rather young, but with his Kenbunshoku Haki he knew he was a lot older than he appeared to be. He had seen people that are over sixty and still look young, so it was no surprise to him.

" _Arigatō_." The ravenette sent him a thankful smile. Marco didn't gasp, and he didn't widen his eyes when he saw the boy's sharp canines. This boy was maybe a zoan or at least had some sort of Devil Fruit.

Marco nodded once and put the file back into his bag.

The compartment was filled with comfortable silence as the ride proceeded. Marco didn't say anything and neither did the stranger. And finally, after what seemed more than fifteen minutes, he heard a voice from above.

" _ **We have arrived at Sakura Station. If this is your stop, please step off.**_ _**Thank you.**_ " Said a woman's voice.

Marco stood up. Much to his surprise, the stranger did as well. The darker haired man blinked slowly. "Ah. I'm visiting an old friend of mine." He said softly.

Although he didn't need to know that, Marco nodded. The two men stepped off the train and nodded to each other. They walked seperate ways.

After that, Marco forgot about that strange man who was visiting his friend. He had more pressing matters to worry about. Like taking care of those bandits and learning where their HQ is.

But, as he continued walking, there was something that bothered him. Emma's words kept echoing in his head. She said they had magic, or at least it looked like it. The only explanation was that they had Devil Fruits, but then why didn't she tell him that? This was the New World, and he knew for a fact that people here could recognise Devil Fruits on the drop of a hat. So then why did she say magic? Magic wasn't real, not even in the New World.

He pushed a branch to the side and frowned when he felt something prickling his skin. It looked like the tree had thorns. Oh well. He shrugged. A blue flame flickered on his pointer finger, closing the wound instantly. He continued on his path.

A few minutes later, he heard talking. After placing his bag securely into a tree, Marco silently made his way over to the place where the voices were coming from.

"–so basically the Executives want us to raid Maldives? Are they fucking insane?" A male voice asked incredulously.

"Yup. I think it Fennel-sama's was idea. He was always the crazy one." A second voice, also male, said.

Marco leaned against a tree, amused that the bandits (about thirty or so) didn't notice him even without concealing his Haki. Though, he did wonder who these 'Executives' were. Was this 'Fennel' they were talking about an Executive?

A younger bandit snorted. "He and Nettle-sama. Those two psychos were always competing for first place in the 'Who's-a-bigger-psycho' contest."

Another bandit joined in. "I think Nettle-sama's the crazier one. Remember that time she strung Josh from the top of a tree by his toes?"

An older male shuddered. "Oh please don't remind me." He groaned. "All I said was that she was cute and the next thing I know, I'm up there. But you can't blame me, she's just a kid. Or, at least, looks like one."

A woman growled. "Can you all just shut up and can we get down to business now? And stop insulting our higher ups. They'll kill all of us."

"Paulina, we were just stating the truth." One of them protested.

"While that may be true, can we get down to business?" A tall man grumbled.

"Yeah yeah. Something about attacking Maldives..?"

The woman (Paulina?) nodded. "Yes. Fennel-sama said to attack Maldives in ten days. And this time, show no mercy." A sadistic smile slowly crawled onto her face. The other bandits around her laughed and jeered in excitement. Marco's lips curled in disgust.

"Hey, Josh. Remember that girl from Rastoke? The one with those blue eyes." A bandit said to Josh, the one who was supposedly hung up by 'Nettle'. "Heard her sister was a prostitute in Rose Garden. You think she learned anything from her?" The male bandits devolved into loud guffaws as the woman rolled their eyes.

"So who's this Nettle chick you were talking about, yoi?"

A male bandit waved a hand and said through his laughter. "You don't know? She's an Executive. No. 12 to be exact. She's Balsam-sama's partner." He froze. "Wait a second..." Robotically, all the bandits turned to face Marco, who had an eyebrow raised and was leaning nonchalantly on a tree.

He raised a hand. "Yo, yoi[ **1** ]."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" The bandits screeched, pointing at the blonde with suddenly too-big-for-their-bodies heads, large white eyes and sharp shark-like teeth.

"I'm just a passing by pirate who couldn't help but over hear your conversation, yoi." Marco deadpanned.

"Oh, okay. Nice to meet you." The bandits all said. Except from Paulina, who just facepalmed. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Then she turned to the other bandits and barked at them, doing a perfect imitation of a shark with wide white eyes and a large head, practically the same expression from before but without the whole pointing thing. "That's _Fushichō Marco_ , the first division commander of the _Whitebeard Pirates_. You know, just the _most powerful pirates_ in the New World? Oh right, you guys are idiots."

"Oh." Was their intelligent reply.

"Yes, _oh_." She rolled her eyes. "So, can you guys, _oh I don't know_ , be useful for once and _attack_?" She suggested.

The bandits rushed at him and Marco couldn't help but sigh. Rushing blindly at your opponent never ended well. He kicked a bandit (Josh) in the back of his knee, momentarily crippling him. Another one rushed at him with a sword raised high and he surged forward, punching the bandit in the stomach. He coughed out blood and was down. They decided if one couldn't do it, then two would have to do the job. Two bandits, both male, rushed at him. Bored out of his mind, and a little cranky, Marco dodged the first one by moving to the side and kicked the second one in the stomach by coating his leg with a thin layer of Busoshoku Haki, causing him to sail into a tree. He heard a loud crack. The bandit didn't move.

"TIM!" The other bandit who had rushed at him cried out. 'Tim' didn't respond. He turned to Marco, rage clear in his eyes. "YOU BASTARD!" And what was even worse than rushing in blindly, was rushing in angrily.

The bandit threw himself at him, a katana in his hand. Now annoyed more than anything, Marco turned himself into his phoenix for and allowed the sword to sail harmlessly through his body, his fire healing the injuries. Shocked, the bandit's grip around his sword slackened. Mercilessly, Marco turned his lower body back into that of a human's and kicked the man away.

The rest of the fight continued on like that, with the bandits attacking and Marco dodging and kicking them aside. It wasn't long before only three bandits were left. Paulina and the first two voices were the ones left standing, with the former's face twisted into a scowl. "You know, _this_ is why I hate my job." She muttered under her breath, but with his heightened senses Marco heard. He scoffed.

"You chose this job, yoi." He said and she sneered at him.

"How disappointing~." Marco didn't blink as a pair suddenly showed up, having sensed them with his Kenbunshoku Haki, but the trio froze in place. Their expressions were overcome with horror, fear and...relief? Are these guys their allies? But then why would they fear them? "I expected you to put up more of a fight." The words were spoken coldly as his icy eyes swept over the gathered bandits and single pirate.

He didn't look all that old, but with his pure white hair Marco couldn't really tell. His hair reached his shoulders, and a few strands were braided. Some strands fell into his pale face, which had a painted red line, starting at both cheeks and connecting at his nose(kinda like Neliel's but not?). He had cold, yellow eyes that reminded the pirate of Mihawk's, but not quite. There was a red bandana ried around his head, to keep the hair out of his face, but it didn't really work. There was an earing in his right ear, dangling, with a part of the red sash hanging from behind it. He wore simple brown pants with a dark green vest and a brown belt on top of that with a dagger shoved unceremoniously into it. There was a bandage around his right wrist while various jewelry adorned his left one. He wore simple brown boots.

His partner, a girl who barely reached Marco's shoulders, stood next to him. He couldn't really tell how she looked like, since she wore a black gas mask which obscured her face from him, but he could tell she had long white hair. She wore a simple, thigh length black hoddie with the hoodie up and knee length, black boots. She wore socks on her right leg at least, which reached a little past his knee. It didn't look like she wore anything as pants. Her hands were stuffed into her hoodie's pockets.

Marco was instantly on edge. Something about these people put him on edge. He didn't know what, but he knew it wasn't anything good.

"And...as much as I hate the crazy bastards known as my colleges," The male sighed deeply. "I can't have you insulting them." What happened next was a blur. Marco just blinked and suddenly, the two male bandits were encased in red...ice? while Paulina was frozen with fear.

"Now, what should we do with you?" The man muttered, tilting his head to the side confusedly. "Boss will have a fit if we let a pirate that came to take us out is left alive..."

"Kill him..." The young girl spoke softly, voice muffled through her mask. The man smiled sadistically. "Ah, of course. Thanks Willow." He thanked the girl, who just looked away uninterested.

"My name's Lichen by the way." The albino said. "That's Weeping Willow, but we just call her Willow." Marco's eyes narrowed. Nettle, Fennel, and now Weeping Willow and Lichen? They were all plant names. So does that mean...? "You're Executives, yoi."

Lichen pursed his lips. "No. 9, and Will's No. 10." He confirmed. "You're _Fushichō Marco_ , right? Nice ta meet cha." He tilted his head to the side. "Great fan, love how you turn into a phoenix. Lil' disappointed that it ain't red though, but still cool. So sorry about this."

He brought his hands together and clapped them together. A strange circle formed in front of them. " ** _Ice Make: Red Snake_**!" Much to Marco's surprise, a large, red tinted snake made out of ice appeared out of Lichen's hands, curling around him and Weeping Willow slightly.

Marco stared at the animated snake, taken aback. Last he checked, Aokiji was still alive and kicking, so how did this man create ice from out of nowhere? Emma's words echoed in his head again. Magic... No, he shook his head, impossible. Magic didn't exist. But... He's seen a lot of crazy shit in the Grand Line, so he couldn't be too sure. But by using common sense... It just wasn't possible.

Lichen raised his hand, and in a strange tone commanded. " ** _Ike_**."

Marco didn't even have any time to blink when the ice snake lunged at him, but he somehow managed to avoid getting injured by fully transforming and rising up into the sky. Discretion be damned, his brothers would never let him live it down that he got killed by a ice snake – scratch that, he would already be dead.

Lichen clicked his tongue in annoyance. "How annoying. **_Dissolve_**." The red ice dragon slowly dispersed into water particles. "It seems I'll have to deal with you myself." Marco's eyes narrowed. It sounded like the boy expected to be able to take him out on his own. Ice powers or not, he was sure the boy wasn't as strong as he was.

Suddenly, the boy pushed himself into the air. Marco almost mistook it as the **_Soru_** technique that the marines were so fond of using. Appearing in front of the phoenix, Lichen muttered something along the lines of "Ice _**Make: Red Fist**_." as red tinted ice encased his fist, giving off the impression thst his fist was much larger than a normal human's – it was as large as one of Jozu's.

Since Marco didn't have much time to react, he just tilted his body so that the damage will be lessened. Lichen's ice encased fist made contact with Marco and he sailed into a tree, coughing upon impact. Blood dripped off his chin. "You're good, yoi." Marco gasped out. "Though, how did you create ice, yoi?"

Lichen frowned. "I'd worry more about yourself than my capabilities, _Fushichō Marco_ -san."

Marco smiled grimly. "Too bad for you, yoi, that I'm in a bad mood." His eyes glowed with the power of his flames as he healed himself. "I didn't become Oyaji's first mate because of luck, yoi."

Lichen's eyes widened momentarily when Marco disappeared from view in a blue and golden flash. He felt a leg implant itself into his back and he sailed through the air, but he managed to place a hand onto the ground and encasing it in ice so he could flip back onto his feet with a wince. _Note to self, his kicks hurt like a bitch._

He didn't have much time to react as another kick landed on his stomach. And another, and another, and he was sure there was a punch thrown somewhere in there too. This guy was pretty strong...

Weeping Willow frowned beneath her mask as she observed the fight. From what she could see, her fellow Executive was losing, which was a huge disappointment. She thought the kid was stronger than that. But then again, his opponent was the Whitebeard Pirates' second in command, so he couldn't be blamed much. But he will have to get stronger to fulfill their organisation's goal.

Finally, Lichen managed to grab his opponent's leg as it sailed next to his face with a wince. He flipped the older man over his head and threw him into a tree. Which didn't really do much damage, since the blonde just transformed and flew upwards. Thst small second of distance allowed the yellow eyes boy to clap his hands together and shout out; " ** _Ice Make: Reform_**!"

Marco managed to make out a presence behind him but had no time to dodge the now reformed ice snake as it hurled itself into the phoenix. Both phoenix and snake spiralled down into the ground. The two creatures landed with a great bang, and the snake dissolved into water.

"I heard that Devil Fruit users are weak to wat..." Lichen cut himself off, realising his mistake a little too late. A highly agitated, slightly flaming in some places, _Fushichō_ Marco stood in the middle of the small crater.

Weeping Willow twitched.

"You shouldn't have done that." Marco hissed. There are a few things thst can tick him off almost instantly. Idiots, betrayal, his Oyaji getting hurt, rapists (there are some lines Whitebeard Pirates do not cross, _ever_ ), and what pisses him off a little bit more was getting soaked. When he was sleep deprived. When he had to deal with the idiots on his crew and paperwork not even seven hours earlier. So yes, Marco was now highly pissed off.

Lichen grimaced. He had a feeling beat down #2 was about to commence. Yay.

Marco lunged at him, his lower body that of a phoenix, and grabbed the albino by his neck with his sharp talons. The boy let out a strangled yell. Marco completed his transformation, and now he dragged the bandit into the air and threw him to the ground. He landed with a loud bang.

Weeping Willow didn't even twitch this time around, just stared from under her mask blankly at the scene. As long as Lichen wasn't too badly damaged, she would not step in. Besides, she already knew the outcome of this fight...

Marco raised his human leg high into the air and brought it down. Lichen just barely managed to avoid it by rolling to the side into a crouch. He swung his fist towards the paler boy's face mercilessly. There would most likely be a broken bone if the brat was lucky. Lichen's eyes widened and he knew he couldn't get out of this one, so not a moment later he closed his eyes in preparation for the painful punch...

...which never came. A minute passed and Lichen couldn't feel any sort of pain on his face. He peaked an eye open, and then they both opened wide in surprise. Marco just stood there, pale, with wide eyes. The younger male wondered what happened. He knew Willow didn't do anything, she never helped him in fights ·even when he got the literal snot beaten out of him – preferring to either fight her own opponent or just observe from the sidelines. So what..?

Weeping Willow closed her eyes as she tilted her head to the side slightly. ... _Fushichō Marco will lose, undeniably._

Marco was just about to land the (probable) finishing blow when a piecing pain overcame his body, and he froze. He hasn't felt pain like this since he was a small child, before he ate the Devil Fruit. Sure, he had felt pain before but it never stayed too long, but this felt like small daggers digging into his skin, his throat was suddenly dry, his whole body was suddenly hot and cold all at once, and his limbs felt weak. He fell to his knees, panting heavily. Clutching at his chest, he managed to see Lichen shakily getting up and backing away from him.

"You have no chance at survival, pyon, if you do not receive medical assistance in the next hour." Weeping Willow's soft voice broke through his haze and her partner turned to her confused. "From the symptoms, you were most likely prickled by the Devil Tree." She tilted her upper body to the side. "This island is not only known for its impressive resources, but also for its poisonous and deadly plants, pyon. The Devil Tree is especially common around here. And unfortunately for you, that plant is fire resistant." Marco's blood ran cold. Usually, all illnesses and viruses were quickly destroyed by his flames, because, unlike what most think, his Devil Fruit only provides heightened senses and regeneration among a few other nifty trick that wouldn't help him in this situation. If he uses his regenerative abilities, then he'd most likely speed up the poison's symptoms and he'd die. Here's a little trivial fsct about his regeneration, it only speed up the process of healing by a large number. He was stuck. Oh god, could it get any worse?

"Checkmate, _Fushichō_ Marco-pyon." He could practically _hear_ the mocking smile in her tone. He gritted his teeth.

"Nee nee, Will-chan~" Lichen frowned. "Aren't Devil Fruit users practically useless in large bodies of water." Marco's blood ran cold, _again_. He hoped the boy wasn't thinking about...

Weeping Willow paused and slowly turned to face Lichen. "...pyon." She said in affirmation.

He was mistaken. Marco seriously hated his life right now.

A wide grin spread over Lichen's face. He spun around and walked towards a wheezing blonde. "Sorry about this dude, but a job's a job." He said gleefully as he grabbed Marco and drug him over to a large pond. Huh. Marco didn't even notice there was a pond here until this moment.

Weeping Willow turned to the two men, and said. "Hurry up, pyon. Boss-pyon wants us bsck as soon as possible. Pyon."

Lichen scowled. "Yeah, yeah. Upsie-dasie, here we go." He flung Marco's weakly struggling body into the waters carelessly. "Can we go now?" His partner nodded and he smirked. "Finally." Pushing his body into the air he twisted his body so he'd land on a tree. "You comin'~?"

"Go on ahead, pyon. I'll catch up in a second." She said softly. Lichen shrugged. "Suit yourself." And he took off, hopping from tree to tree, leaving her behind.

Weeping Willow hesitated. "...pyon." Before she spun sround and disappeared after Lichen.

Meanwhile, in the pond, Marco's body felt weak as he sank down into the blakc abyss. He was barely conscious from the pain and the energy sapping the water around him is doing. He knew he was going to die, and he felt bad leaving his family. He felt a bit bad, since the idiots were the reason he was here. But this was his fault anyway, if he hadn't wanted a vacation, he would've still been on the _Moby Dick_ and not dying.

Such a shame, if things had gone differently maybe he would've even gotten to meet his soulmate...

The last thing he remembered was hearing a loud splash and faintly seeing a blurry figure with brown hair swimming towards him.

 _Huh...maybe I won't die today?_

* * *

 **Hope no one was too OOC...**

 **Here are a few questions for you;**

 **Should Thatch's soulmate be Izo or Cana or the princess or Fiore, because why not?**

 **Who should be Ace's soulmate? I was thinking about maybe Mirajane or Wendy or someone..?**

 **Should LawLu happen?**

 **Who do you guys think is Whitebeard's soulmate(s)?**

 **Speaking of, what should the pairings for this story be? I take in all suggestions. Yaoi, het, and yuri.**

 **But here is a list of pairings that will happen;**

 **Marco/Mystery Girl**

 **Whitebeard/Soulmate**

 **Natsu/Lucy**

 **Gruvia**

 **Jellerza**

 **Gale**

 **And that cowboy shooter pair who's names I can't remember but are the parwnts of Asuka**

 **All the other pairings will be decided through votes, unless I say no or decide thst they'll be woth someone else. Though, I'm not a real fan of Romeo/Wendy.**

 **[1]: Ah, the ever infamous 'yo'. But Marcoised of course.**

 **Thank you all for favouriting and following.**

 **Please review on your way out. :-)**


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